How do I install the Ns File Qualifiers skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add nativescript/ns-file-qualifiers in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Ns File Qualifiers safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Ns File Qualifiers?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Ns File Qualifiers free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free. This skill is licensed under Apache-2.

Who published Ns File Qualifiers?

nativescript (@nativescript) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Ns File Qualifiers by nativescript — Agent Skill

Name: Ns File Qualifiers
Author: nativescript

Ns File Qualifiers

Use when naming platform/size/orientation file variants (page.ios.xml, home.land.css, main.minWH600.xml) or debugging why a variant file is ignored — the supported qualifiers are minWH/minW/minH/land/port/android/ios in that priority order, .land beats .ios, and .tablet/.phone are NOT qualifiers at all (they silently never load).

nativescript ce6d5b0 3.2 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

File-name qualifiers: what resolves, in what order

NativeScript resolves foo.xml / foo.css / foo.js against qualified sibling files at runtime. The complete supported qualifier list, ordered by priority (highest wins):

minWH<n> — min of width AND height ≥ n dip (e.g. main.minWH600.xml)
minW<n> — min width
minH<n> — min height
land / port — orientation
android / ios — platform

test.xml
test.android.xml
test.land.xml
test.minWH600.xml

On an Android tablet in portrait with both dimensions ≥ 600, test.minWH600.xml wins — and on any device in landscape, test.land.xml beats test.ios.xml/test.android.xml. Platform is the lowest priority qualifier, which surprises everyone: an orientation variant overrides your platform variant.

The `.tablet` trap

.tablet / .phone are not qualifiers. No matcher exists for device type, and a file with an unrecognized qualifier isn't even considered a candidate for the base name — page.tablet.xml silently never loads, ever. Use size qualifiers instead:

home.xml            → phones
home.minWH600.xml   → tablets (the conventional tablet breakpoint)

Rules that bite

minW/minH explicitly exclude minWH files — test.minW600.xml and test.minWH600.xml are distinct candidates; the matcher never confuses them, but you can: a minWH file is NOT a fallback for minW.
XML, CSS and JS resolve independently. page.xml + page.land.css + page.ios.js is legal; each artifact picks its own best variant. This also means a stray foo.land.css sitting next to a foo.css you reference explicitly (cssFile="…/foo.css") silently overrides it in landscape — explicit cssFile/codeFile attribute paths are themselves qualifier-resolved.
Repeated qualifiers in one name: only the last occurrence is scored.
Custom components resolve the same way inside their folder — a component can ship MyControl.xml, MyControl.ios.xml, MyControl.minWH600.xml.

Worked example

views/player/
  player-page.xml            # base
  player-page.minWH600.xml   # tablet layout
  player-page.land.xml       # phone landscape (beats platform variants!)
  player-page.android.css    # Android-only styling
  player-page.css            # shared styling

If tablet-landscape needs its own layout, that's player-page.minWH600.xml (minWH outranks land); orientation differences within it belong in CSS (.ns-landscape scoping — see ns-root-css-classes).

Verified 2026-08 against @nativescript/core 9.1.0-rc.3: priority order and the .tablet non-qualifier behavior are asserted in apps/automated/src/name-resolvers-tests/qualifier-matcher-tests.ts and implemented in packages/core/module-name-resolver/qualifier-matcher/index.ts (supportedQualifiers list); not re-run standalone.

---name: ns-file-qualifiersdescription: Use when naming platform/size/orientation file variants (page.ios.xml, home.land.css, main.minWH600.xml) or debugging why a variant file is ignored — the supported qualifiers are minWH/minW/minH/land/port/android/ios in that priority order, .land beats .ios, and .tablet/.phone are NOT qualifiers at all (they silently never load).license: Apache-2.0---# File-name qualifiers: what resolves, in what orderNativeScript resolves `foo.xml` / `foo.css` / `foo.js` against qualified sibling files at runtime. The **complete** supported qualifier list, ordered by priority (highest wins):1. `minWH<n>` — min of width AND height ≥ n dip (e.g. `main.minWH600.xml`)2. `minW<n>` — min width3. `minH<n>` — min height4. `land` / `port` — orientation5. `android` / `ios` — platform```test.xmltest.android.xmltest.land.xmltest.minWH600.xml```On an Android tablet in portrait with both dimensions ≥ 600, **`test.minWH600.xml` wins** — and on any device in landscape, `test.land.xml` beats `test.ios.xml`/`test.android.xml`. Platform is the *lowest* priority qualifier, which surprises everyone: an orientation variant overrides your platform variant.## The `.tablet` trap**`.tablet` / `.phone` are not qualifiers.** No matcher exists for device type, and a file with an unrecognized qualifier isn't even considered a candidate for the base name — `page.tablet.xml` silently never loads, ever. Use size qualifiers instead:```home.xml → phoneshome.minWH600.xml → tablets (the conventional tablet breakpoint)```## Rules that bite* **`minW`/`minH` explicitly exclude `minWH` files** — `test.minW600.xml` and `test.minWH600.xml` are distinct candidates; the matcher never confuses them, but you can: a `minWH` file is NOT a fallback for `minW`.* **XML, CSS and JS resolve independently.** `page.xml` + `page.land.css` + `page.ios.js` is legal; each artifact picks its own best variant. This also means a stray `foo.land.css` sitting next to a `foo.css` you reference explicitly (`cssFile="…/foo.css"`) **silently overrides it in landscape** — explicit `cssFile`/`codeFile` attribute paths are themselves qualifier-resolved.* Repeated qualifiers in one name: only the **last** occurrence is scored.* Custom components resolve the same way inside their folder — a component can ship `MyControl.xml`, `MyControl.ios.xml`, `MyControl.minWH600.xml`.## Worked example```views/player/ player-page.xml # base player-page.minWH600.xml # tablet layout player-page.land.xml # phone landscape (beats platform variants!) player-page.android.css # Android-only styling player-page.css # shared styling```If tablet-landscape needs its own layout, that's `player-page.minWH600.xml` (minWH outranks land); orientation differences within it belong in CSS (`.ns-landscape` scoping — see `ns-root-css-classes`).Verified 2026-08 against @nativescript/core 9.1.0-rc.3: priority order and the .tablet non-qualifier behavior are asserted in apps/automated/src/name-resolvers-tests/qualifier-matcher-tests.ts and implemented in packages/core/module-name-resolver/qualifier-matcher/index.ts (supportedQualifiers list); not re-run standalone.

Frequently asked questions